Pietro Pironato, 29, was born on January 20, 1997, in Ivrea, a small town near the city of Turin, Italy, to Franco Pironato and Francesca Minelli. He is the second of nine brothers and sisters, and an uncle to nine nephews and nieces. Living in a Catholic household of strong faith, Pietro attended the private Jewish school of Torino from 1 st to 8th grade. This experience allowed him from a very young age to be exposed to the Jewish roots of Christianity and better appreciate the Christian heritage. At age 13, he went to high school, to the Liceo Scientifico Pier Giorgio Gobetti. Pietro’s high school years were difficult and marked by a strong challenge to his faith. However, despite the difficulties, problems, and also sins of his teenage years, thanks to his community from the Neocatechumenal Way, he had a profound encounter with God’s forgiveness and love, which moved him to follow God’s call to the priesthood.

Therefore, soon after graduating from high school in 2015, he joined the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of the Archdiocese of Miami, which is found on the premises of St. Cecilia Catholic Church, in Hialeah, a “school of life” where he grew as a man and continued his discernment towards holy orders. While he lived most of his seminary life in Hialeah, he attended school at St. John Vianney College Seminary, from where he earned a BA in Philosophy in 2019, and at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, where he earned a MA in Divinity in 2026.

During his long formation, he spent three pastoral years living in different Pacific Islands, from Guam to Hawaii all the way to Kiribati, a very poor and primitive nation of Micronesia; this experience which filled him with enthusiasm and zeal for the salvation of souls. He came back from those years in mission in September 2024 and was ordained a deacon on March 29, 2025. As deacon, he served for a year at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in North Miami Beach.

Thanks to his involvement with the efforts of evangelization of the Neocatechumenal Way, he was given the privilege to help giving catechesis for adults and faith formation in many parishes of the Archdiocese, most especially in St. Cecilia and St. Benedict, both in Hialeah.

Fr. Pietro Pironato